From a boyhood in 1840s Missouri much like that of his young hero Tom Sawyer, Samuel Langhorne Clemens—Mark Twain—seemed destined for a life seeking freedom and adventure, and that is indeed how Anna Carew-Miller presents it here. The facts of his life, from his loathing for school and his days on Mississippi riverboats to his experiences in Gold Rush California, fuel his imagination as a writer of hilarious inventions, illustrated with the realistic paintings of Andrea Di Gennaro in this oversized picture book biography for readers 8 and up.